CHAPTER 1

He grabbed my thighs, leaving his fingerprints imprinted on my creamy flesh and pulling me in an atmosphere of longing and desire that I have craved for so long. The air was thick, every breath I drew held a promise of wildness and uninhibited freedom. The lights in the club danced above me, and I felt the intoxication wash over me and not from the alcohol alone but his electrifying touch on my body – sharp and tingling, seeping into my veins and igniting a fire within me that burned bright and unruly.

We were at the corner in the club where the lights were the dimmest and his hands roamed my body as I pulled him in for another electrifying kiss that set my soul on fire. He licked my lips and slowly his teeth grazed them before moving to the succulent part of my neck, that soft spot that sent me over the rails. A soft moan escaped my lips as I tugged on his hair holding him closer to me because I didn’t want to him to be apart from me. He grabbed my ass, his hands now reaching to heat between my legs and he called my name softly.

“Oh Jessica,” his voice was silk, delicate and smooth like honey that flowed, “Look at you, burning for me.”

My eyes searched his in the darkness, hoping he’d actually see the desire that burned in my eyes when our bodies intertwined like this. His fingers found my nipples through my dress, hardening at his touch mimicking the bone in his trousers.

“You’re so beautiful Jessica.” he whispered softly in my ears before nibbling on my ear lobe. I closed my eyes, surrendering to the intoxication of his touch. His hands slid down from breast, gliding over my skin, memorizing every contour, every curve of my skinny frame.

“I want you.” I whispered back impatiently, my body gyrated because I wanted him – no, I needed him. I needed to feel him way deeper than I could process, deeper than my body could handle. That was what happened when you frolicked with the devil, and he ignited desires that only him could quench.

“How badly do you want me?” he asked me now biting my flesh hard that a raw groan escaped my lips.

“I could die.” raw, unfiltered desires radiated off me and he turned me around, pulling me closer and lifting my dress up, I moaned again.

But just as the dream reached its climax, a sudden jolt of reality pulled me from the depths of desire. I opened my eyes to find myself lying in bed, the morning sunlight filtering through the curtains, my heart pounding from the sultry dream I just had and right there beside me was my boyfriend – Nathan Gold staring at me while I had been dreaming about my ex boyfriend from my wild child past.

Could he tell? Did he know I had been dreaming about the man who had in fact ruined my life?

“Good morning pumpkin.” Nathan greeted me, placing a simple kiss on my temple with a smile on his face, he was about to pull away when I held unto him with what I perceived to be a raunchy look on my face.

“Five more minutes.” I grumbled, snuggling up next to him and pulling us deep underneath the covers. My whole body still burned from my dream and I needed Shawn to quench the heat that burned within me. I pulled his face closer to mine and I kissed him deeply, drawing him closer to mine just like the devil had done in my dream. I wanted to Nathan to make me feel like that, I wanted his hands to roam the smooth curves on my body till I turned to jelly but just as I was about to get into the kiss, he pulled away and standing up from the bed completely.

“Don’t you have a big presentation this morning?” he said looking at me, his eyes glazed over with a certain kind of seriousness that annoyed me so I rolled my eyes and sat upright on the bed. Who cared about a presentation when the fire between my legs were begging to be quenched, but Nathan was barely paying any attention to me anymore so I slid off the bed to him, thankfully I wore my skimpy pj’s to bed the night before exposing my smooth bare legs. I moved towards him now and wrapped my fingers around his neck and making another attempt to kiss him.

“A few minutes won’t hurt anybody.”

“Jessica,” Nathan called now, “I have a big case today and I’m yet to review my files, you have a presentation to bag investors. Sex should be the last thing on your mind now.” He said to me and sometimes I forgot he was a big shot lawyer that loved his job more than anything and not even me trying to seduce him could distract him.

“Fine.” I pulled my hands off him, my voice laced with disappointment which he didn’t seem to notice and I made my way to the bathroom.

Later on, I walked into P&H advertising LTD, the advertising company that I worked at as a content writer and junior consultant determined to put the sultry dream at the back of head and move on with my life. No more reminiscing about him; my ex or the life I used to have. I was done with that and it was the sole reason I had moved away with Nathan, to move on with my life and forget about him.

“Ready for your big presentation?” Cara Joan fell into step with me as we walked in together, she offered me a big smile which helped calm the nerves that were slowly building at the pit of my stomach. Her afro hair was tied up in a neat bun that structured her face perfectly. Her lips stained red and her black heels clanked in rhythm with mine.

“Not even in the slightest.” I said back, suddenly feeling the impact of my presentation on the company. We were running a deal with a new automobile company and if I was able to bag them with my presentation, I was looking at a possible promotion.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Cara said, then she stopped just before she walked into her cubicle.

“Did you hear the CEO was coming in today to listen to you, apparently this is a big deal for the company.”

“What CEO?” I said, the anxious feeling returning and a feeling of dread that I was going to fuck it up. I had enough pressure on me already about the presentation with the perspiration already building across my forehead ruining the makeup I had spent a longer time than intended applying before my eyeliner smudged a bit with my failed attempt of drawing a wing, I had considered it manageable, then a CEO I have never heard about coming to listen to was enough to break me. I didn’t work well under pressure.

“The owner of K&H advertising, the company you’ve been working for over some months now” she said and I gave her a blank stare, because it wasn’t ringing a bell at all.

“We have a CEO?” I was more than shocked because I had never heard of him “I thought it was owned probably by a group of individuals or something like that”

“We do have a CEO Jessica and word on the street is that he’s insanely hot and drop dead gorgeous, so just giving you a heads up so you don’t start stuttering when he walks in like you usually do, remember chicken restaurant incident last month.”

I shuddered as I remembered exactly what she was talking about, the chicken incident right! I had flunked the presentation because the owner of the restaurant had the eyes like that of a hawk and it scared all the preparedness out of me.

I rolled my eyes playfully at her, “It’s not my fault he looked so scary and besides I have a boyfriend Cara, I’m not going to stutter at some ghost drop dead gorgeous CEO that I have never met before as long as he has normal looking eyes.”

Cara shot me a look before sauntered away, “Well good luck, I’ll be rooting for you.”

By the time it was time for the presentation, my veins pulsed with anxiety but I had drank enough cups of coffee to keep my eyes wild and my brain focused yet my fingers trembled, I walked briskly to the podium as the rest of my colleagues trooped in one of after the other, followed by the investors of the automobile company with their eyes fixed on me and a determined look on their faces. I skimmed through my notes for a last minute touch up. I took a deep breath, and looked up at everyone.

“Good morning everyone.” I greeted, a large and almost genuine smile plastered on my face as I was already to commence the presentation.

“Today I’ll be talking about the best strategies to promote Venzos automobile industry and for the first point – ” I paused as I saw him walk in, dressed in a sleek black suit and his eyes covered with dark sunglasses but he took them off and locked eyes with me, I saw the shock that registered on his face that equally mirrored mine and I began to stutter.

“We’ll be starting with social – social – media and – cont – content – ” it was difficult to keep up not with those piercing eyes staring back at me.

It was him in the flesh – Parrish Holmes – my ex that had in fact ruined my life and invaded my dreams leaving me all hot and bothered. That was when it clicked P&H Advertising – Parrish Holmes.

Oh shit!

I didn’t even speak of the devil, I had barely thought of him and he was right in front me holding my stare with those delicious looking eyes that had once always caught me in a trance.